Lever mount assembly for toggle switches



Nov. 18, 1958 E. R. KULKA 2,861,156 LEVER MOUNT ASSEMBLY FOR TOGGLE SWITCHES Filed Oct. 25, 1956 INVENTOR. EUGENE x2. KULA/A V I wa y A T TOR/V575 LEVER MOUNT ASSEMBLY FOR TOGGLE SWITCHES Eugene R. Kulka, Mount Vernon, N. Y., assignor to Kulka Electric Corp MountVernon, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 25, 1956, Serial No. 618,213

8 Claims. (Cl. 20tl168) This invention relates to improvements in electrical toggle switches and has particular application to an improved swivel mount for the toggle switch lever.

Conventional toggle switches in use today. have a front collar from which the handle. of the toggle lever projects. The toggle lever is usually swivelly mounted within this collar by a pivot pin which extends through the toggle and is secured at its ends to the collar body by riveting or the like. The use of such pivot pin necessitates several operational steps in the assembly of the switch and is costly in manufacture.

It has been proposed to use a ball swivel within the collar to permit pivoting of the toggle lever. The assembly of the switch is such, however, that a seat for the ball can only be provided at the top of the ball, that is to say, at the upper end of the collar. Thus the toggle lever is held by the seat from upward movement in the collar, but there is no lower seat to restrain it from downward or inward movement. The ball is normally held in engagement with the upper seat of the collar by spring tension of the contact assembly which presses upwardly on the toggle lever. It has been found, however, that in operating the toggle lever, the tendency is to push downwardly upon it. This downward pressure overcomes the slight upward spring pressure, and moves the toggle lever downwardly through the collar, causing improper con tact at the various ope-rating positions of the toggle lever. According to the present invention, there is provided in a toggle switch a swivel ball mount for the toggle lever in the nature of a split ring constructed to snap within a groove in the collar.

This split ring is inserted easily and quickly after the toggle lever has been assembled with the collar, and acts as a bottom or inner seat for the swivel ball.

An object of the invention, therefore is to provide a mount for a toggle switch lever which eliminates the necessity of using a "fixed pivot pin and nevertheless effectively holds the toggle lever from being pushed downwardly in the socket.

Aturther object of the invention is the provision of a mount of the character described which permits an effective water-tight seal to be provided around the toggle lever with the use of a single resilient ring.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent in the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a toggle switch incorporating the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view thereof with a central portion broken away and shown in section to reveal inner construction;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken substantially along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the collar and toggle lever assembly with the parts shown in the same section as in Fig. 3;

' atent l Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the split ring used for mounting the toggle lever; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a modified form of toggle lever.

The switch has a hollow casing 10 of rectangular boxlike configuration, which is made of insulating material and has an open top end. A metallic closure plate 12 is sized to fit across and cover the top open end of casing 10, the closureplate 12, having a central elongated slot 14, the side edges of which are bordered by integral upstanding flanges 16, 18.

The closure plate 12 is held in position by a metal bracket 20 having a top wall 22 and a pair of side walls 24. Each side wall 24 has at its lower end a pair of integral lugs 26 which are bent over into notches or recesses 28 in the casing 10, for securing the bracket 20 in firmly mounted position.

The top wall 22 of bracket 20 has a central circular opening '30 located above and in registry with the slot '14 of closure plate 12. The bottom end of cylindrical metal collar 32 is press-fit within this opening 30 so that the collar 32 is fixedly secured to the bracket 20.

A toggle lever 34 is mounted within the collar 32. For this purpose, the collar has a lower cylindrical bore 36 which communicates with an upper bore 38. The upper bore 38 is frusto-conical, tapering downwardly from the top of collar 32. The bottom end of the upper bore 38 is of lesser diameter than the cylindrical lower bore 38 and is joined to said lower bore 38 by an inclined surface or shoulder 40.

The toggle lever 34 has atop finger portion or handle 42 which is joined to a lower shank portion 44 by a central spherical 'ball portion 46. The ball portion 46 is of lesser diameter than cylindrical collar bore 36 but of greater diameter than the upper bore 38. Thus, when the toggle lever '34 is assembled with the collar 32 by inserting the handle 42 upwardly through said collar, as shown in Pig. 3, the ballportion 46 abuts and rests against the inclined surface or shoulder 40 which acts as a seat for said ball portion 46, permitting the ball to swivel within the collar.

The collar 32 also has an internal annular groove 48 extending centrally around the cylindrical bore 36. A split resilient ring 50, shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and '5, is sized to snap within and be retained by said annular groove 48. The ring 50 is snapped within the groove 48 after 'the'toggle lever 34 is inserted within collar 32, and

is so located that it serves as a lower seat for the toggle ball portion 46, as shown in Fig. 3, preventing the toggle lever from moving downwardly in collar 32. The toggle ball portion 46 is held firmly between the split ring 50 and the shoulder 40, so that it cannot move longitudinally in either direction.

The shank 44 of the toggle lever 34 extends through the circular opening .30 of bracket 20 and the elongated slot 14 in closure plate 12, into the hollow interior of the casing 10. By means of its swivel ball portion 46, the toggle lever may pivot about said ball portion, this pivoting movement being constrained to a linear path by the elongated slot .14. and the upstanding flanges 16 and 18 which border the sides of said slot. The limits of the pivoting movement of the toggle lever are illustrated in broken line in Fig. 3, and are defined by the walls of the upper :bore v38, as indicated.

The toggle switch which is illustrated in the drawings is .a single-pole double-throw switch having soldering terminals' 52, 54 and 56 each being connected to a respective contact inside the casing 10. The contact assembly of'ithe switch may be of any conventional type 311E therefore not illustrated in the drawings. However, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that a I movable contact carrier is connected to the central terminal 54 and is actuated by movement of the toggle lever 34 to electrically connect either of the outer terminals 52 and 56 with the central contact 54, depending upon the direction in which the-toggle lever is pivoted. A singlepole toggle switch is shown by way of example 'only,cit

being evident that the invention herein could-as well be incorporated in a double-pole switch having a swivel ball mounted in a collar. 7 c I I' The ball portion 46' shown in Figs. 3 and 4 has a central circumferential groove 58 in which a sealing ring 60 of rubber or similar resilient material may be fitted. When the toggle lever is assembled, the resilient ring engages the inner wall of collar 32, providing a water-tight seal about the toggle lever to prevent moisture or foreign matter from entering the casing 10. In conventional toggle switches where the toggle lever is mounted by means of a pivot pin, a seal must be provided both above and below the pivot pin. The ball swivel mount of the invention herein permits an effective seal to be provided with the use of a single sealing ring 60, thus effecting economies in assembly and manufacture.

For some types of toggle switches, a seal is not important, and the toggle lever may be made in simpler form, as shown in Fig. 6. The toggle lever 34' shown therein is similar in form to the toggle lever 34 of Fig. 4 except-that the central ball portion 46' is in solid form having no central slot for the reception of a washer.

As shown in Fig. l, the collar 32 may be provided with external threading 62 for the adjustable mounting of nut and washer assemblies 64 used to mount the tog gle switch on a panel or the like.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it is obvious that numerous additions, changes and omissions may be made in the structure and form of the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 1

I claim: 7 4

1. In a toggle switch having a hollow casing, a collar communicating with the interior of said casing and hav ing a central through bore, and a toggle lever extending through said collar bore and having an intermediate ball portion swivelly contained in said collar, the upper end of said bore being shaped to provide an upper swivel seat for said ball portion, that improvement which comprises a member inserted into said collar bore and rigidly held therein for reducing the area of said bore below said ball portion, said member being located to engage the lower surface of said ball portion and to act as a lower swivel seat therefor, and means for holding said member immovably within said bore whereby said member retains said ball portion against downward movement in said bore.

2. In a toggle switch having a hollow casing, a collar communicating with the interior of said casing and having a central through bore, and a toggle lever extending through said collar bore and having an intermediate ball portion contained in said collar, the upper end of said bore being shaped to provide an upper swivel seat for said ball portion and said toggle lever being capable of assembly only by inserting said lever upwardly through said collar, that improvement which comprises an annular member of lesser area than the area of said bore, and means for mounting said member removably in said bore below said inserted toggle lever ball portion with the member located to engage the lower surface of said ball portion and to act as a lower swivel seat therefor, said annular member being rigidly and immovably held within said bore by said mounting means for retaining said ball portion against downward movement in said bore.

3. In a toggle switch, a hollow casing, a collar fixed to said casing and having a central through bore communi c ating with the interior of said casing, a toggle lever extending through said collar and having an intermediate spherical bore portion swivelly contained within said collar, and a ring immovably mounted in said collar between said toggle lever bore portion and said casing, said ring serving as a swivel seat for said ball portion and preventing the toggle lever from moving axially in the direction of said casing.

4. In a toggle switch, a hollow casing, a cylindrical collar communicating with the interior of said casing and having a central through bore, a toggle lever extending through said collar and having an intermediate spherical bore portion swivelly contained Within said collar, the collar bore being sized to provide an upper seat for the toggle lever ball portion, said collar also having a central annular groove and a split ring contained in said groove, said ring being located to contact the lower surface of said ball portion and to serve as a lower seat' therefor, the ring being immovably held within said groove to restrain said toggle lever ball portion against downward movement in'said collar bore.

5. In a toggle switch, a hollow casing, a cylindrical collar fixed to said casing and having a through bore communicating with the interior of said casing, a toggle lever extending through said collar bore and having an intermediate spherical ball portion swivelly contained within said collar, the upper portion of said bore remote from said casing being shaped to provide an upper swivel seat for said ball portion, said collar having an annular groove and a ring mounted in said groove, said ring being positioned to contact the lower surface of said ball portion and to serve as a lower swivel seat for said ball portion, said ring being of lesser diameter than the diameter of said ball portion and being immovably held in said groove, said ring and said upper bore portion cooperating to engage the ball portion along respective annular lines at the upper and lower ends of the ball portion, whereby the ball portion is held against upward and downward movement in said bore.

6. In a toggle switch, a hollow casing, a cylindrical collar fixed to said casing and having a through bore communicating with the interior of said casing, a toggle lever extending through said collar'bore and having an intermediate spherical ball portion swivelly contained within said collar, the upper portion of said bore remote from said casing being shaped to provide an upper swivel seat for said ball portion, said toggle lever being insertible upwardly through said collar for assembly of said switch until said ball portion engages said upper swivel seat, said collar having an annular circumferential groove extending around said bore, and a resilient split ring insertible in said groove, said ring being of lesser internal diameter than the diameter of said bore and being located in its inserted position to contact the lower surface of said ball portion and to serve as a lower swivel seat for said ball portion, the ring being immovably held within said groove and preventing the toggle lever from being moved downwardly in said collar.

7. A toggle switch assembly according to claim 6 in which said toggle lever ball portion has a central circumferential groove and a flexible ring inserted in said groove, said flexible ring abutting the inner surface of said bore and providing a water-tight seal around said toggle lever.

8. A toggle switch assembly according to claim 6 in which said toggle lever ball portion has a central longitudinal groove and a narrow filexible ring inserted in said groove and movable with said ball portion, the flexible ring abutting the inner surface of said bore and making wiping contact therewith when said ball is moved in its seats, the flexible ring providing a water-tight seal around said toggle lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,726,105 Koenig Dec. 6, 1955 

